Matthew Morgan's four penalties were not enough to seal a win for the Ospreys

3 February 2013, 06:59 pm ::

By Alex Bywater

Young Ospreys fall just short

Harlequins edged out the Ospreys in a 16-12 win in their LV=Cup encounter at the Brewery Field.

A young Ospreys side battled impressively against the Heineken Cup quarter finalists, the boot of Matthew Morgan keeping them in it during the first half.

Despite his three penalties, Harlequins led 13-9 at the break through a try from Matt Hopper and the boot of his centre partner Ben Botica.

In a keenly contested second half, Morgan and Botica exchanged penalties but it was Harlequins who prevailed.

Young fly half Morgan showed the Bridgend crowd his talent with an effortless early break before opening the scoring with a simple penalty. That score aside, it was the visitors who dominated the opening quarter, centre Botica replying with two penalties of his own to give his side the lead.

With the rain saturating an already wet pitch, a scrappy game became dominated by the boot. Both sides struggled to create any clear cut opportunities but it was Harlequins who should have pulled further clear.

Attempting yet another clearance kick, Morgan saw his effort charged down by Harlequins wing Sam Smith. A score looked certain but Smith's hack on was on the heavy side as he grounded the ball on the dead ball line. The score was sent upstairs and TMO Paul Adams adjudged the ball dead.

It didn't matter though as soon after Hopper showed Smith how it's done. After a sustained period of pressure, the centre crashed over to the right of the posts and Botica converted for a 13-3 lead.

The score was a deserved reward for the Aviva Premiership leaders but they were far from out of sight at the break, Morgan kicking two further penalties as the Ospreys trailed by four.

With only a small lead to show for their first half efforts, Harlequins came out firing after the interval but despite battering the Ospreys line, Steve Tandy's side held firm in defence.

And when Morgan kicked his fourth penalty on the hour mark, the Ospreys were behind by just a single point.

Morgan's boot was keeping his side in the game as the visitors, prompted by Rory Clegg at fly half, stayed on top.

Clegg, who suffered Daily Mail Cup heartbreak in Barnard Castle's defeat to Warwick School in 2007, gave his outside backs plenty of ball but their second try proved elusive.

Arthur Ellis exemplified the Ospreys' effort in defence but although they kept Harlequins out, they struggled to create opportunities themselves.